All S&P Investment Styles See Red in July

The grim returns were driven by rising volatility in the U.S. equity market, coupled with deepening liquidity and quality fears, according to S&P.

The average large-cap stock (as determined by the S&P 500) fell 3.1%, the average mid-cap stock (as determined by the S&P MidCap 400) lost 4.3%, and the average small-cap stock (as determined by the S&P SmallCap 600) dropped 5.04%.

Industrials (+0.48%) and Energy (+0.40%) were the only sectors within the S&P Composite 1500 (an index comprised of the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600) to post positive returns in July. The worst performing sector for the month was Financials, which lost 8.10%.

“July was not kind to equity investors. However, year-to-date, all three benchmarks and eight of the 10 sectors are still in the black, with Energy, Industrials, Materials, and Telecom Services showing double-digit advances,” said Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist of Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services, in a press release.

The three major investment styles continue to show positive returns for the year with the S&P MidCap 400 gaining 7.15%, the S&P 500 rising 3.64%, and the S&P SmallCap 600 increasing 3.07%.

The best performing investment style over the first seven months of the year continues to be mid-cap growth as the S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Growth Index has gained 9.33% through July.